The Blight
The Blight was an event in Haven and Eden City; an outbreak of a disease known only as the Blight caused sickly creatures to attack these cities en masse. This plot introduced the royal Penderghast family, and two brothers on opposite sides of a deadly conflict. Events Forewarning Following the events of Occultus, it became clear that Haven City and Earth in general was not as safe as it was thought to be. Magnus and his Maverick Corporation allied themselves with Roland, leader of an organization called the Crusader Legion. It had been some time since the Crusaders were in Haven, and their numbers were few. Both groups had similar goals in mind, so it proved to be beneficial that they team up. Magnus, Roland and his Crusaders decided to search one of their old hideouts, being low on supplies. After a quick patrol through the hideout, they all joined up on the roof. Joined by Ashlynn, they flew off together. Magnus eventually parted ways with the Crusaders and Ashlynn, leaving to wander Haven by himself. Within his vision he saw shambling creatures; he soon realized that they were of Lucifer's ilk, the Fallen. Ashlynn eventually joined with him once again and the two battled the creatures together. After dispatching the demons, Magnus and Ashlynn were joined by others, including Anaithnid, Chase, Grey and Thymus. The figure known as Chase had become somewhat of an enigma, appearing out of nowhere to observe the group. He foretold of a great tragedy that would befall the city soon; a blight, something that happened only once every six hundred and sixty six years. Though skeptical at first, the group decided to research this by exploring an old library that was in the near vicinity. Even more Fallen were discovered within the library, forcing the group to do battle once more. Demons wandered the interior but all of the heroes so bravely eliminated them. Though sometime in the scuffle, Magnus was wounded in the arm. He shrugged off his wound and decided to search through the various books instead, hoping to find something on the Blight. What he eventually discovered had disturbed him; a flesh-bound book written in a Satanic language foretold of the same events that Chase discussed. Not sharing this with anyone, he simply declared "We're leaving." The 32nd Blight Shortly after the library, the Blight arrived in Haven and began to attack and infect everything. A new figure entered town, called Sylus Penderghast; with him he brought his Royal Army, being a prince of a kingdom which was destroyed by the Blight. Maverick allied themselves with the army, but this peace was short-lived as the Blight soon attacked Maverick Tower in force. Hordes of the diseased creatures threw themselves at the walls, hoping to breach it and claim victims within. Though the first wave was quickly dealt with, Magnus was summoned elsewhere to deal with Blight outbreaks all over Haven City and Eden City. While Magnus was away, the Blight renewed their assault on Maverick Tower, with even more force and aggression. Blighted dragons soared through the skies and destroyed emplacements with devastating fireballs. Genlocks and Hurlocks made the bulk of the army, attempting to bash down the front gates and breach the courtyard. Heroically, many of Haven's heroes stood in opposition of this threat; joining them was Sylus' Royal Army and Roland's Crusaders, who took residence in Maverick Tower while Roland was away from Haven. A small scale war had erupted in this place, with the group fighting what seemed to be endless hordes of the Blighted ones. They specifically targeted the Blighted ones known as Druids; they had learned in a previous encounter that it was the Druids who rallied the Blight to war. Eventually, help came from above; a red dragon rained intense flames upon the Blight and killed many of them. With the intervention from this beast, the Blight sounded their retreat and disappeared from the battlefield. The dragon called himself Nelphir, a powerful beast from Sylus' homeland. It left just as sudden as it had arrived, leaving the battlefield full of charred remains. An old and dangerous virus called Red Death had somehow found its way back into Haven City. It was discovered that the Blight were being further infected by this deadly virus; it mutated them even more, turning them into horrid bio-weapons. This posed an even worse threat to the group, as both Magnus and Anaithnid were familiar with the virus. Thanks to the help of Moonbell, it was discovered that the Blight was festering right below Maverick Tower. The whole group descended into the sewers to deal with this threat once and for all. The Blight was already fully infected by Red Death, turning them into lethal weapons. The virus was contracted by blood contact, and the group did their best to avoid this danger. However, Magnus found himself swiftly impaled through the shoulder by a tendril, thus immediately contracting the deadly virus. The rest of the group quickly destroyed the Blight and torched the sewers to burn the remains. After the battle, Magnus collapsed. If he did not find treatment soon, he too would be horridly mutated into an abomination. Since he had prior experience with the virus, Anaithnid began to work on researching an antidote. The Archdemon With the arrival of an agent of Lucifer, Zenith offered a choice to the group; save Magnus by giving up one soul. It became apparent that this particular strain of Red Death was deadlier than the last, and Magnus had only a couple days before he either died or mutated. It was Ashlynn who offered her own soul to save Magnus, and so Zenith took her soul and removed the virus from Magnus. Though she would be forever marked for this, Magnus would also be forever in her debt. Shortly after this event, it was revealed that the Archdemon had appeared towards the outskirts of Haven City. The Archdemon was the one who orchestrated the Blight's efforts; effectively he/she was their leader. It also was revealed that the Archdemon was Sylus' own brother, Severus. He was the man who brought the Penderghast kingdom to ruin many years ago. The Blight armies rallied in full force for one final assault to claim the city. Haven's forces rallied to oppose the enemy; the FCRF, Royal Army, Crusader Legion and Maverick Corporation all fought side by side in one coalition to defeat this heinous foe. Severus commanded a multitude of Blighted dragons at his disposal, and sent them all at once to attack the allied forces. A massive hydra descended upon the city, being larger than the largest building. To combat this threat, Anaithnid called in his massive mech; the Deity Breaker. The behemoth mech wrestled with the hydra, battling for supremacy with no side giving any immediate leverage. It was eventual that the hydra attempted to tackle the mech and pushed it to the ground. Anaithnid used this to his advantage, and deployed an arm-mounted blade. He impaled the beast through the heart and killed it instantly. Severus witnessed this and used his overwhelming power to tear apart the mech. Anaithnid was forced to eject, but had no time to deploy parachutes. He made a hard landing, crashing into the streets below. Magnus commanded the troops on the ground, sending Crusader and Maverick forces full force to combat the Blight. Marksmen were set up in strategic locations, sniping away the Druids who floated about the back lines of the battlefield. Crusader tanks rolled through and unleashed heavy explosive payloads, blowing holes in the approaching army. The immense military effort managed to push the Blight to the brink of total destruction. When Anaithnid made a hard landing from his mech, Magnus helped the armored male up onto a tank and together they battled the hordes back completely. Meanwhile, the duo of Thymus and Grey took on the Archdemon himself, in an effort to end the war completely. Both members of the Crusaders, the duo of Thymus and Grey fought to take on Severus himself. Once the brother to Sylus, this man had claimed power from the Blight and destroyed all he saw fit. Thymus exchanged words with the corrupted being, and the two entered an intense battle. Sword parries left and right, vile words were shared between the two beings. Severus managed to gain the upper hand and smashed Thymus into the ground. Just as the Archdemon was about to finish Thymus off, Grey got between them and blocked the blow. With a large gash across his front, Grey was killed almost instantly. Fueled by rage from the loss of his comrade, Thymus took up his fallen brother's sword. In a renewed effort, he battled back the Archdemon with a furious resolve. Catching him off-guard, Thymus stabbed the Archdemon through the heart, before detonating his blade. The sudden explosion ripped Severus from the inside out, and killed him for good. With the Archdemon slain, the remaining Blight retreated back into the wastes from which they came. Without a leader to guide them, the Blight would wander aimless until another Archdemon rose to lead them. Until then, the 32nd Blight had ended. Humanity was saved once more by the heroes of Haven, so steadfast in their protection of the world. Category:History Category:Lore